A screenshot from the film for the Striado Entryway SetStanding out in the online furniture retail market can be quite a task, what with specialist home decor e-tailers and websites like Flipkart and Amazon aggressively pushing their furniture range to customers. But in the midst of this stiff competition, Urban Ladder, with Lowe's creative help, has released a new campaign to make itself more relevant in consumers' lives. The last tactical campaign that the brand unveiled was 'The Homecoming', an emotionally-driven film released in time for the festive season. The new campaign, however, is tongue-in-cheek, and centres around the umbrella thought 'Your furniture knows everything you need'. The films push Urban Ladder as a brand that creates thoughtful and functional furniture.

Speaking about the challenges involved in selling Urban Ladder in a crowded category, Arun Iyer, chief creative officer, Lowe Lintas said, "The category essentially operates in the generic space and what the consumer seeks for is a bed and not a brand, unlike other lifestyle categories like watches, mobile phones etc. At the same time, there is a flurry of furniture e-tailers bombarding messages of free services, offers and return policies to the customer. We decided to give the brand a larger purpose in people's lives by making it stand apart from every other furniture e-tailer. We wanted the consumer to look at the furniture beyond its looks and returns policy. Land the brand's design philosophy of great designs start with practicality and functionality, but end with great aesthetics."

The ads, four of eight which have been released so far, riff on the same thinking.

In the ad for the 'Striado Entryway Set', a man is shown to pull out all the essentials he needs just before leaving the house without even looking up from his phone. He reaches out for his keys, his shoes, umbrella and bag very intuitively, almost as if a butler were to hand over his things.

Watch the ad here:

In the 'Apollo Sectional Sofa' ad, three friends are watching an action movie transfixed. The camera then pans onto a fourth friend, who has passed out on the extendable chaise, oblivious completely to the excitement that the film is causing.

Watch the film here:

The 'Lucerne Dining Table' film also features a slice-of-life situation: a couple has friends over for dinner. The host brings out a tray of ice cream and signals his friend to make place at the dining table. The friend, instead of extending the table, just makes space by carelessly pushing away all the crockery with his arm, much to his friend's scorn.

Watch it here:

The last ad for the 'Stanhope Bed' features a husband who is packing in his bedroom in the middle of the night for what seems like a business trip. His wife is sleeping while he is putting together things to take with him. He seems to forget where he has kept his jacket, and the wife opens the drawer under the bed without even opening her eyes and takes it out. Same goes for the travel pillow he is almost about to forget.

Watch the film here:

Iyer said that consumers face the expectation v/s reality dilemma when furnishing their homes, something that lended itself to the creation of this campaign. Then remained the task of turning it into a subtle, fun set of films. "While working on this project, we talked to quite a few consumers and discovered that in terms of desire there is so much more people want to do with their homes today, but in terms of reality it is exactly the opposite. The form rarely meets the functionality or vice versa. But the furniture by Urban Ladder is not just beautiful to look at but designed with one's specific challenges in mind. Furniture that is thoughtful!" he added.

A quirky campaign must have some quirky moments on the set, or so one would think. "Nothing really. Other than the fact that in the sofa film, I think the girl really slept," said Iyer.